Capsules of fluoxetine, the chemical name for the popular antidepressant Prozac, are sorted at a packaging line at Barr Laboratories in Forest, Va., Tuesday, July 31, 2001. The line can bottle up to 3 million 20 mg capsules of the drug in a 24-hour day. U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker entered her final ruling in a Prozac patent infringement case on July 27 in Indianapolis, determining that Eli Lilly and Co.'s patent on the drug was invalid. Barr Laboratories is launching its fluoxetine on Thursday, Aug. 2, and will be shipping it across the country. (AP Photo/The News & Advance, R. David Duncan III)

It's up for debate whether Americans are more depressed than they were 20 years ago, but according to the National Center for Health Statistics, we're certainly taking more antidepressant medications. Researchers compared data from 1988-94 with data from 2005-08 and found that the rate of antidepressant use increased nearly 400 percent. The data also show that patients are staying on the drugs for years, and that the prescriptions are especially common among middle-aged women. Source: 1.usa.gov/rpFWAo

1st

Antidepressant ranking among prescription drugs among U.S. adults up to age 44. Antidepressants are the most common prescription medication for Americans age 18-44, and the third most common drug across all ages.

60

The percentage of Americans taking antidepressant medication who have used it for two years or longer. Fourteen percent have taken the medication for 10 years or more.

23

The percentage of women in their 40s and 50s who have been prescribed antidepressants - the highest percentage of any demographic group. Overall, 11 percent of Americans over age 12 take antidepressants.

2.5

Women are 2.5 times more likely to take antidepressants than men. Researchers from Harvard suggest that, for some women, depression is tied to hormonal changes, including puberty, pregnancy and menopause. They also theorize that depression may strike men and women in equal numbers, but women may be more likely to seek medical help. Source: hvrd.me/TxXj3R